Victoria man guilty of Cactus Canyon shooting

A jury Thursday found a Victoria man guilty of shooting at a night club-goer.

Antonio DeLeon, 37, may face anywhere from five to 99 years in prison for the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge. That's if assistant district attorney Edward Wilkinson can prove DeLeon has felony and misdemeanor convictions in Galveston, Harris and Victoria counties during a 9 a.m. Friday sentencing hearing before Judge Robert C. Cheshire.

Defense attorney Bill White could not be reached for comment.

DeLeon was arrested Dec. 4, along with Jeremy Altis, 33, of Missouri, who faces similar charges.

Witnesses said DeLeon fired at least one shot in the direction of five people at the club's parking lot in the 3600 block of Navarro Street. They said they saw Altis driving the gray Toyota Tacoma that sped away from the scene.

DeLeon was originally charged with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but Wilkinson said he abandoned four of them because the evidence wasn't as strong.

"I didn't want the jury to struggle with them," he said. "The sentences would've run concurrently anyway."

Wilkinson said he was never able to track down three of the victims because they live out of state.

He added that no one was injured in the shooting, which he said likely started because people were intoxicated and trying to act macho.

Altis is expected to go to trial in January. Wilkinson said police and the grand jury who indicted Altis thought he was connected to the shooting because he owned the gun that was used - a black Hi-Point model C9 9mm Luger.

"The jury deliberated for four hours," Wilkinson said of Thursday's verdict in DeLeon's case. "I think they worked very hard."